BlogUMASS

Pat Kelsey backs out of the Massachusetts head coaching job

Just a few days after Massachusetts announced that Winthrop’s Pat Kelsey would be its next head coach, and just minutes before his opening press conference welcoming him to the program, Kelsey backed out of the job. This was shocking news for a program that thought it landed a great hire in a successful coach from an up-and-coming program, but now it seems that the search will continue for Derek Kellogg’s replacement.

All of a sudden, Kelsey had a change of heart, and it looks like it’s back to Winthrop. This is disappointing news for Massachusetts, but Jeff Goodman of ESPN reports that the Minutemen have a number of other candidates on their radar including Joe Dooley, Micah Shrewsberry, John Becker, and Chris Caputo.

This does really suck for a team that thought it got a great hire, and it does mean it’s back to the drawing boards for Massachusetts. The Minutemen finished 15-18 last season and have a very strong rising sophomore class that they’ll try to keep heading into next season. They’re going to need a good coach in order to do that.

Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and check out our forum for more A-10 content.

Massachusetts fans: Follow @A10TalkUMass

Grant Labedz is a college basketball superfan who loves the entire sport but definitely has favorites in the A-10 and the Big Ten. He has written for ...